Courtney LoveAmerica's Sweetheart (Virgin Records)By: Cam LindsayWhatever happened to Courtney Love's band The Bastards? Hopefully this solo album is not the result of the creative input put into that band she was forming with a few of her pissed off musician friends. Don't get me wrong, America's Sweetheart is a good enough album, but like Hole, Love often loses her edge after a few songs on the album. Lead single "Mono" is a real firestarter, the kind of track you love to hear from her. Filled with some smart lyrics, nasty snarls and trashy riffs, it's what any fan of hers wants the entire album to sound like. Receiving help from ?ber-successful songwriter Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera, Pink), Love seems to slip in and out of her bad girl, Miss "Fuck You I'm" Independent routine. Sure she talks the talk, but her skills as an authentic songwriter have always been questionable. America's Sweetheart both shines ("But Julian--", "I'll Do Anything", "Hello") and stumbles ("Uncool", "All The Drugs"), making it a fickle album to sit through. Had Love spent a couple days holed up in a studio and just recorded tracks based on her raw energy, we would have a completely different album. However, the time taken to record it and the outside influences brought in to help out (Perry, boyfriend/producer Jim Barber) have made this a typically organized album from an artist that does her best work spontaneously.